NASA just honored a young female Saudi student by naming an asteroid after her, Okaz Newspaper reported on Wednesday.
The young student, Fatima bint Abdel Moneim Al Sheikh, was recognized for her research efforts in "determining the effect of the novel Carl 2 Strigolactone analog on the seed germination of parasitic weeds," Okaz wrote.
Speaking to the local newspaper, she expressed how thrilled she was at the news.
Al Sheikh, who plans to continue her education at the prestigious Brown University in the U.S. is an inspirational national and international award winner.
The 19-year-old student's project won an award at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (Intel ISEF) in 2016.
Held annually, Intel ISEF is considered the world’s largest international pre-college science competition. It brings together around 1,800 high school student competitors from all over the world.
Not the first Saudi woman to shine at NASA
Al Sheikh isn't the only Saudi woman to shine at NASA in recent years.
A few months back, Saudi student Sara Alrabiah also won NASA's top Award at the Intel ISEF.
The young student received the award for a project focused on "improving resistive RAMs’ performance by using single crystal Perovskites."
In an interview she gave to a local Saudi television at the time, Alrabiah expressed her sense of pride for participating in Intel ISEF alongside a team of Saudi students. She went on to dedicate her achievement to them.
Other than Alrabiah, students Aamar Amir, Rana Al Salmi, Dana Al Khalidi, and Nadia Al Motlaq also scored impressive wins for the country.